On the Properties of the Forced Unsteady-state Ring Reactor Network

摘要

The multi-reactors network, a closed sequence of two or more catalytic fixed bed reactors with periodical change of the feed position, was studied by means of numerical simulations. Two advantages of such a reactor configuration, the possibility of exploiting the thermal storage capacity of the catalyst and the optimal temperature profile for exothermic equilibrium-limited reactions, were analyzed. The former feature acting as a regenerative heat exchanger was simulated in the case of the combustion of lean volatile organic compound (VOC) mixtures, with the possibility of multiple stability windows found when rich mixtures are fed. The latter was demonstrated using the methanol synthesis, with the enhancement of the conversion and product selectivity predicted. The influence of the number of the reactors in the network was pointed out. Some results obtained in the reverse-flow reactors were also presented for comparison.